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posted by on Saturday November 19 2016, @02:47PM   Printer-friendly
from the another-brick-in-the-wall dept.

As a result of a social media campaign, last week makers of the famous geek-popular toy highly sophisticated inter-locking brick system the Lego Group has stopped giving away polybags with print copies of the Daily Mail, something it has done for years in occasional promotions.

The Daily Mail is frequently criticised for its right-wing stance and critics often claim that many of the stories are either inaccurate or utterly fabricated, as the quote below from the " Stop Funding Hate" campaign shows:

While I disagree with their political stand I can accept their right to have it. But lately their headlines have gone beyond offering a right wing opinion. Headlines that do nothing but create distrust of foreigners, blame immigrants for everything, and as of yesterday are now having a go at top judges in the U.K. for being gay while making a legal judgment.

Another article from The Independent has more background.

Lego spokesperson Roar Rude Trangbaek told The Independent: "We spend a lot of time listening to what children have to say. And when parents and grandparents take the time to let us know how they feel, we always listen just as carefully.

"[...] The agreement with The Daily Mail has finished and we have no plans to run any promotional activity with the newspaper in the foreseeable future."

Other targets of "Stop Funding Hate" include John Lewis, Waitrose, and Marks & Spencer.

Is this a case of the liberal left shouting and screaming to enforce a kind of corporate self-censorship, or simply free markets and freedom of speech working together as they should?


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  • (Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 19 2016, @05:03PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 19 2016, @05:03PM (#429464)

    Fun fact: When Intel pulled their adds from Gamasutra after they published the "Gamers are Dead" article, the so-called liberal left was screaming bloody murder. I guess it's only freedom of speech when it's people we dislike that are on the short end of the stick.

    Is this a case of the liberal left shouting and screaming to enforce a kind of corporate self-censorship, or simply free markets and freedom of speech working together as they should?

    Neither. This is certainly self-censorship and the outcome of free market economics, but it the people who engage in this are not liberals and forcing someone to shut up through exercising soft power is very much against the spirit of freedom of speech.

    It was only a few decades ago that the evangelical right in America was doing the exact same kind of bullshit against anyone who openly supported or promoted homosexual acceptance. To them, gayness was just as abhorrent as the Daily Mail's message is to you. Just remember that history has this funny tendency to repeat itself, it only takes a few years for the right to swing back into being the moral authority. By the way, how are you enjoying your future president, America? How about you Britain, how do you feel about your PM?

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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 19 2016, @05:44PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 19 2016, @05:44PM (#429487)

    Well, your title certainly I can agree with you.
    For me the liberals died however when they (at least those in the liberal parties on Europe, especially Germany) sacrificied their support for personal freedom in favour of support purely for more monetary freedom.
    When being liberal was redefined to mean that hotels paying 5% less tax is more important than the government not being able to listen in when people speak to their lawyers, doctors and journalists that label lost the last of its appeal.